My Wikipage - Candace Zwick
Culminating Task
Brainstorming
brainstorming.JPG
After brainstorming, I decided on three final topics: Music vs Education, Brain Cancer Cases vs Age and Natural Gas vs Temperature

1) Music vs Education
Question: Does participating in and/or listening to music at a young age, help one’s educational performance throughout the rest of his/her life?
Hypothesis: Yes, it does. Music has a direct affect on the brain, how people act and their moods. Music could also affect one’s outlook on life furthering their understanding of education and helping them study and be more mentally alert and active.

This was my favourite topic, however, a lack of data did not allow me to continue in this analysis.

2) Brain Cancer vs Age
Question: When are people most vulnerable to brain cancer?
Hypothesis: Middle aged people will have the most cancer cases. Very few children have brain cancer when they are born. Children usually acquire brain cancer throughout time. There are fewer people in their 70’s, 80’s and 90’s and therefore fewer brain cancer cases.


brain_cancer_final.gif

Table 103-0550 - New cases for ICD-O-3 primary sites of cancer (2009, July). In Statistics Canada. Retrieved November 15, 2010, from http://estat.statcan.gc.ca/cgi-win/cnsmcgi.exe?Lang=E&EST-Fi=EStat/English/CII_1-eng.htm

I have decided against this topic since I have little interest in this area and the statistics are depressing.

3) Natural Gas vs Temperature

My Question
How does the consumption of natural gas in Canada, vary throughout the months within 2007-2008?
- Independent variable: temperature (per month)
- Dependent variable: sale of natural gas

Leading to my Hypothesis
We use natural gas everyday. Many homes have natural gas fireplaces which are frequently used. Clothes dryers are used more often in the winter
because people wear heavier clothing. Clothes lines are used less often in the winter because it takes longer to dry clothes in the cold weather and it is not pleasant to hang clothes on a line in below 0 temperatures. In colder temperatures, fewer people walk, they resort to the warmth of their cars to reach their destinations. Finally, we tend to take warmer and longer showers in the winter.

Hypothesis
More natural gas will be used during the winter months than the summer months. This is because in the winter, people try to keep themselves warm by using furnaces fuelled by natural gas. In the summer, the weather is warm and homes do not need to be heated.

Data
This data compares the following two variables: The consumption of gas in cubic metres and the average temperature in Celsius in Canada.

Graph
In this graph there is a linear regression. We can clearly see that the lower the temperature the higher the consumption of gas and the higher the temperature the lower the consumption of natural gas.
negative strong linear correlation of -0.9185
mean= 1,731,630.75 m^3
median= 1,702,815.5m^3
standard deviation= 234,724.45

Data
The following data represents the amount of consumed gas throughout the year vs the months of the year.
Another graph showing the same info.
There is a non-linear correlation evident in these two graphs.
quadratic correlation y=ax^2+bx+c
mean= 1,484,251m^3
median= 1,702,816m^3

Another graph demonstrates my findings.


Sampling Techniques
Simple Random Sampling
This is where every member of the population has an equal chance of being selected. Randomly picking people in Canada and calculating their monthly gas consumption.

Bias
Could not identify any.

Hidden Variables
The data being collected should be random sampling because the data was collected from different parts of Canada. Some parts of Canada are significantly colder than others and therefore the amount of natural gas used would be affected. Also, the income and financial state of the consumer could affect the amount of natural gas one uses and therefore distorting the data. When collecting data, all these hidden factors must come into play. Global warming could have an affect on data collected in the future. When winters are warmer, people use less energy.

Why I chose Canada as opposed to other parts of the World
Data may vary in different parts of the world because of climate changes, culture and poverty.

Conclusion
My hypothesis is correct. My data clearly shows that as the temperature increases, gas consumption decreases and as gas consumption incresases, temperature decreases. This results in a strong negative linear correlation of -0.9185.
The following video further supports my hypothesis.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DXaVBlBrDnk&feature=related

Bibliography